Exclusive Fringe First Look: Series Finale Poster May Leave You Speechless

Peter, Olivia, Walter et all have some “skin in the game,” as the saying goes, when Fox’s Fringe wraps up its five-year run this Friday. And to look at this unsettling promotional poster for the two-hour finale event, they may even have skin to spare.

In the first hour titled “Liberty” and airing Friday at 8/7c, “the Fringe team engages a desperate plan as Olivia embarks on a dangerous and otherworldly journey into the unknown,” Fox’s official synopsis reads. Then, in the second and final hour, “An Enemy of Fate,” Peter, Olivia, Walter, Astrid and Broyles “face off against the Observers in one final and extraordinary battle for the fate of mankind.” Oh, so that’s all that’s at stake.

When TVLine spoke with executive producer J.J. Abrams at the sci-fi drama’s wrap party in Vancouver, he described the finale as “highly unexpected, incredibly emotional and a fitting conclusion to the series.” Noting that it’s “an incredibly exciting thing to get to end a show appropriately” and on a planned timetable (as Abrams’ Lost did), he further hailed Fringe‘s series-ender as “beautifully done by [showrunner] Joel [Wyman] and the writers.” (You can watch the spoilery promo here.)

Here’s the tragedy of Fringe. If in order to defeat the Observers they have to prevent them from being created in the first place, what’s going to end up happening is that September will no longer exist, therefore he will no longer distract Walternate from completing Peter’s cure, and so Walter won’t have to kidnap him. The show, for all intends and purposes, will be written out of existence, like it never happened.

The denoucement is going to have to be great to explain things and provide a happy ending to Peter and Olivia, or we’re looking at the creation of yet another alternate timeline in which nothing we’ve seen so far ever happened.

It may very well be that these iterations of Olivia and Peter could end up vanishing into their own pocket universe in order to not be erased from history, like the Superman and Lois Lane from Earth 2 did at the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths…which would end up being pretty much what William Bell wanted at the end of the previous season.

Judging by the title of the first episode, “Liberty”, and the “otherworldly” in the synopsis, makes me think the episode includes Olivia traveling to the alt-universe. Maybe Peter and Olivia stay there for while the timeline is reset, or something to that effect.

how would that help them, though? the history of both universes would change. the only thing that would help them is to go inside a pocket universe like the one where Walter hid Michael, where time is meaningless. They could be there until they die free of whatever happens outside.

Yeah, but the statue of Liberty was where you could travel between universes. So I’m assuming it involves the alt-universe one way or another. Unless the title is a misdirect, just to throw us off-track.

Olivia doesn’t need the bridge to travel between realities. In the promo we see her be injected with something, which we can safely assume is Cortexiphan, then we see her in the alt universe with Bolivia and Lee.

She would need the boost because at the end of the last season she lost all her powers. The question now is, where are they going to get it? Alternate Nina had stolen it, and Massive Dynamic was destroyed in Letters of Transit.

Well, Peter has already demonstrated the ability to survive outside of timelines from which he has been erased, and Olivia has a long history of mind-bendy world hopping as well. It’s not exactly a stretch to imagine that they’ll find a loophole to escape whatever erasure they may cause.

the Observer still distracted Walternate, causing Walter to crossover. It is THAT event that leads to the creation of the Pattern and the stories of the show. Remove September from history, and Walter has no reason to crossover to another reality to kidnap Peter.

There is absolutely no evidence to support the notion that Walternate will get distracted by anything other than September. In order for things to proceed the way they did, someone has to distract him. Right now it’s September. The show could very well end with someone like Walter going back in time to distract Walternate in order to preserve the timeline.

The point that I was trying to make is that I don’t think that the writers will get too caught up with this issue to mess up the story by having the characters we have come to love not have each other in their lives in some respect.

Given that Fringe has played fast and loose with what I would consider the “rules” of time travel (i.e. how were the Observers able to come back to take over the world before they were created? Wouldn’t their existence in the world in the year 2167 when they were first created mean that those researchers would not have created them in the first place?) I think that they will figure out a way to reboot the story line so that everyone is happy and together in the end.

After it was mentioned in last week’s episode I had to go back and watch “White Tulip” again. It is a great episode BUT I still believe that “Peter” is their best work for the series! It’s such a well told story :)

The artwork for season 5 has been incredible. Very creative, and this one is a creepy to look at as the flesh eating virus! I am sure this poster is only one way that the Observers will disappear. If the Fringe team wipes the Observers from existence they are exterminating an entire race. That not only alters the events in human history (especially the Bishop family), but it is also genocide. This two-hour finale is going to be interesting.

December was one of the original twelve who went back in time. Last episode it was made distinctively clear that they had been long forgotten by the invaders. Hence, the language distinction used between “Invaders” and “Observers”

I love this show and am heartbroken to see it go. I am sure they will figure out some way to save everyone, because when you think about it if they send Michael into the future to prevent the “creation” of the observers then September will never have been created thus providing the genetic material for Michael to be born to begin with. Yet again another paradox. Unless instead of not creating observers, they are able to create observers like Michael, so instead of being emotionless in the future they are able to be as intelligent while feeling. And Michael remembering the bishops and family can leave a message for the future to save them some how (Pocket Universe!!!!)

I am just so happy that we get to see Fauxlivia and Lincoln Lee! I missed them this season and the fact that they are there in the final eps is amazing and I am glad that JJ and Wyman have not forgotten them. I do not know what happens nor do I want to speculate. I just want to watch it and be amazed at this amazing show.

My head hurts from all the “if they do this, then this won’t have ever happened” stuff. I’m just going to enjoy the finale and hope it doesn’t disappoint like Lost did. And hopefully Peter and Olivia get a happy ending.

I concur, too. I hate and sad to see this show go. The characters and the actors blended well that it is difficult to separate them. I hope the Fringe producers won’t disappoint me with the season finale. I like to see the finale as lives of our characters become normal again. There will be no Fringe Department of FBI because somehow as I deduced from the show, all Fringe events are caused by William Bell and the Observers. If they are eliminated in this finale series, then there will be no more fringe events unless the producers create another bizarre happening at the end.

I would like to see Olivia and Peter settling into a normal life of being a married couple bringing up
Etta. Olivia still with FBI and Peter helping his Dad for whatever Walter is doing to help the FBI in their cases. The alternate universe’s door is built again and Lincoln and Bolivia, too got married.
Anything, as long as it is a happy ending. I think the characters deserve a normal and happy life after what they done to save the world.

I do not like to see our characters die nor sacrificed for the sake of saving the world. They have
done a great deal of that in the last 4 seasons. It should be given to somebody else but not to Olivia, Peter, Walter and Astrid. Please, if the producers or writers are reading this, let us see
Peter and Olivia happy and so much in love with each other living a life as normal as anyone of
us.

Let us give thanks to September in the show because he has done a great deal in making our
universe safe from the observers/invaders. Let us see him and his son living a normal life
in a father and son relationship in our universe, in Peter and Olivia’s timeline.

I hope that they come up with a new sci-ti to replace Fringe. Although it would have to be one he k of a show seeing as Fringe will be hard to follow. I’m sad they have cancelled it as it was one of the best shows they had brought in in a very very long time! You will be missed Fringe!